Process of manufacturing plasterers&#39; trowels.



. J. G. THATFORD. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING PLASTERERS TROWELS.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 19. 1910.

1,015,654, Patented Jan.23,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

J. G. THATFORD. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING PLASTERERS TROWELS.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 19, 1910.

1,015,654. Patented Jan.23,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH Gr. THATFORD, 0F SHARON HILL, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING PLASTERERS TROWELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 23,1912.

Application filed July 19, 1910. Serial No. 572,698.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. THATFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing in Sharon Hill, county of Delaware, State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Processes of Manufacturing PlasterersTrowels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the manufacture ofplasterers trowels.

It has been the usual practice heretofore to make the blade ofplasterers trowels separate from the shank and tang section. Effortshave been made to make the tang on which the handle is fitted in asingle piece with the blade, but trowels of this type have not beenproduced commercially. Prior attempts to make a trowel with an integralshank and tang were failures, owing to the fact that the blade was firstforged and reduced to the finished thinness prior to the slitting andbending of the projection to form the shank and tang, and it was alsoimpossible to give the shank and the rib of the plate the form desired,owing to the fact that the extreme thinness of the blade would forgingof the blade.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1, is a perspective view of aplasterers trowel illustrating my invention; Fig. 2, is a perspectiveview of the blank from which the trowel is formed; Fig. 3, is aperspective view showing the rib of the blank cut to form the tangportion; Fig. 4C, is a view showing the tang portion bent into aposition at right angles to the blade and partly formed; Fig. 5, is aview showing the blade rolled .to the thickness required; Fig. 6, is aperspective view showing the shank and tang completed and the blade ofthe trowel reduced to the proper thickness.

While I have illustrated my invention in a plasterers trowel of acertain size and shape, it will be understood that the invention can beapplied to the various forms of trowels, without departing from theessential features of the invention.

Referring in the first instance to Fig. l, A is the blade of the trowel;B is the shank projecting from the back of the blade and shaped in anymanner desired. In the present instance, as illustrated in Fig. 1, theshank is wide and narrow, being greater in width at the center 6 andtapered slightly toward the point where it joins the blade, and alsowhere it joins the tang I). handle C is driven on the tang. Onthe bladeA is a longitudinal rib a, and in this instance, this rib extendssubstantially the full length of the blade and acts to stiffen it. Therib illustrated in Fig. 1, is narrow and is beveled at the end, but itwill be understood that the rib may be of any shape desired and mayterminate any distance from the shank, as it will be understood thatplasterers trowels vary in different localities. Some plasterers wanttrowels with stiff and heavy blades, others wish very light blades anddifierent forms of shanks and handles, and these slight variations canbe made without departing from the main features of the invention.

In Fig. 2, I have illustrated a blank D, from which the trowel is made.This blank is made by rolling or forging and has a heavy rib dprojecting from one surface. The blank is cut from a bar, and in properlengths to form trowels. The ribis of such a height that the shank andtang can be formed from it. The first operation is to indent the rib oneach side, as at c, Fig. 3, from one end to substantially the pointwhere it is desired to have the shank project from the blade. Theseindentures extend half way through the rib from each side, so as to meetat the center, and thus the portion 0? is severed from the portion 6F,and this portion d forms the rib at the back of the blade. The portion03 is cut entirely away, as shown in Fig. 3, and discarded. If a rib isnot desired, then I form the incisions e as near the blade as possible,so that when the blade is rolled or forged the rib is obliterated. Thenext step in the process is to bend the portion d of the rib The I awayfrom the blade, preferably to a posiweb or body portion of the blank isnext reduced to the required thinness to form the blade of the trowel.This reduction can be made by rolling, forging or pressing, as desired,but I preferably roll one half and then the other half in two heats, therolls being so shaped as to avoid the projecting shank B and to reducethe rib to the form desired. After the blade has been reduced it istrimmed, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and the shank and tang are finished,the tang being bent to a position substantially at right angles to theshank and substantially parallel to the blade, as illustrated in Fig. 6.The blade is finally finished by being ground and polished in theordinary manner.

From the above description it will be seen that I can accurately andeconomically make a plasterers trowel in which the shank and tang areintegral with the blade and the rib can be made of any shape and sizedesired, and I can also form the blade without the central rib, ifdesired.

The great objection to the trowels made in the ordinary manner, that isby riveting the ribbed handle portion. to the blade, is

' that the blade is often torn from the handle considerably less inheight than the portion necessary for a complete shank and tang, andfinish such shank element for the application of a separate tang, or ashank member carrying the usual tang to which the handle is secured;such separate tang, or shank member with tang, being attached to theshank element formed up from the rib by any welding operation suited forthe purpose, electrical or otherwise.

I claim 1. The process herein described of manufacturing plastererstrowels, said process consisting in forming a blank with a ribprojecting from one surface, cutting away a portion of the rib to formthe shank, and then reducing the body portion of the blank to form theblade of the trowel.

2. The process herein described of manufacturing plasterers trowels,said process consisting in forming a blank with a rib on one surfacethereof, cutting away a portion of the rib at one end of the blank,leaving a central connect-ion with thebody portion of the blank, cuttingthe rib entirely away on the other side of the blank, bending thatportion of the rib which remains integral with the blank, then reducingthe body portion of the blank to form the blade, and finally shaping thecut away portion of the rib to form the shank. I

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH G. THATFORD.

Witnesses MURRAY C. BOYER, VVM. A. BARR.

.copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

